James Jackson Jeffries

TheRiverCityHippy · Post by **TheRiverCityHippy** » 17 Jan 2007, 07:40

thats fast for a big man but i can well believe it.
sprint king michael johnson has a theory that even with modern diets and training the athlete`s these days arent that much faster than the athlete`s back in the day.
he took the example of harold abrhams who won the 1924 olympics in a time around 10.2 or 10.3 (i forget exactly)
then he looked at the fastest men now who run 9.77 or thereabouts.
thats only half a second difference in almost a century and johnson said that half a second could easily be accounted for by the use of proper starting blocks, fast rubberised surfaces as opposed to cinder tracks and better footwear and clothing.
in the old days sprinters used to take a trowel onto the track and dig themselves a couple of holes to start from.
interesting theory.

Seamus · Post by **Seamus** » 17 Jan 2007, 11:54

All the athleticism in the world won't help you if you drop your guard as often as Michael Grant has. Plain and simple he was poorly trained. Had an excellent jab when he used it properly.

walshb · Post by **walshb** » 17 Jan 2007, 12:17

100 metres in 10 secs?. Jesse Owens in 1936 wasn't able to do that. But Jefferies was doing it 30 years earlier. Sounds a little suspect. Even if it was meant to be yards, I'd still be cautious

TheRiverCityHippy · Post by **TheRiverCityHippy** » 17 Jan 2007, 12:42

Seamus wrote:All the athleticism in the world won't help you if you drop your guard as often as Michael Grant has. Plain and simple he was poorly trained. Had an excellent jab when he used it properly.

was grant a big star in another sport in college?
i know marion jones was supposed to be a basketball star before she turned to the track.

Seamus · Post by **Seamus** » 17 Jan 2007, 13:03

I believe Grant was a high school letterman in Baseball, Basketball and Football. I seem to remember something about the Kansas City Royals wanting to sign him to a minor league contract as a pitcher.

Also, I believe Jeffries ran the 100 yd dash in 10 seconds, which would be around 11.00 for 100 meters.

TheRiverCityHippy · Post by **TheRiverCityHippy** » 17 Jan 2007, 13:08

Seamus wrote:I believe Grant was a high school letterman in Baseball, Basketball and Football. I seem to remember something about the Kansas City Royals wanting to sign him to a minor league contract as a pitcher.

Also, I believe Jeffries ran the 100 yd dash in 10 seconds, which would be around 11.00 for 100 meters.

cheers seamus.